Haye cleared of assault at comedy gig
Case against boxing champ is thrown out
EX-BOXER David Haye has been cleared of assaulting a man at a comedy show.
The former world heavyweight champ, 41, was on trial accused of grabbing Nickesh Jhala round the throat in October last year.
Mr Jhala alleged Haye told him: “Say one more word and I will kill you”. But after hearing the prosecution case, senior district judge Paul Goldspring, the Chief Magistrate for England and Wales, ruled that there was no case to answer.
He said it was not clear the CCTV showed Haye did anything other than getting the complainant’s attention so he could speak to him at London’s Hammersmith Apollo.
Mr Goldspring said in his ruling: “Not every touching of somebody is an unlawful application of force.”
Speaking after the judgement at Westminster magistrates court, Haye told reporters: “My legal team did an amazing job just explaining exactly what the CCTV footage showed and I’m just thankful the venue had CCTV. Without it, I’d have been found guilty as I had four witnesses saying I did something that wasn’t on the CCTV.”
Earlier, Jonathan Bryan, prosecuting, told the court that an assault was alleged to have occurred in the interval during a gig by comic Paul Chowdhry.
Mr Bryan said: “It seems that Mr Haye believed that some of the people sitting behind him were saying derogatory remarks about him and his partner. We say Mr Haye put his hands around Mr Jhala’s throat.”
He told the court that Mr Jhala was only shaken, not injured.
Haye’s barrister James Scobie KC said Haye admitted approaching Mr Jhala after hearing derogatory comments made by him and his cousin, Vishal Vadhe. But he said Haye only put his hand on the man’s shoulder.
He denied making threats to kill, saying he only threatened to have him thrown out.
I’m thankful the venue had CCTV. I would have been found guilty
DAVID HAYE AFTER HIS ASSAULT TRIAL ENDED